Making Sense of Islam

Mohammed Magid is an outstanding figure in interfaith activities, Imam Magid is the Executive Director and Imam at the ADAMS Centre in Virginia, and former President of ISNA. He is an advocate for youth and women, and serves on the FBI's Muslim, Sikh, and Arab Advisory Committee. In recognition of his efforts toward interfaith bridge building, Imam Magid was among the ten Washingtonians of the Year in 2010 presented with Washingtonian Magazine's award for outstanding leadership. He has served as an advisor to many in Washington, including President Obama.

Over the last twelve years of her professional career, Sameera has worked closely with Muslim communities (and professionals who serve them), developing and facilitating programs and curricula in the field of sexual health education. In addition to building out the sexual health aspects of her work, Sameera is also a 200-hour Registered Yoga Instructor with trauma-informed yoga training. She regularly offers virtual classes - flow-based, sculpt, and trauma-informed.

This is a continuation of episode 100 where I get a chance to answer the remaining questions sent by all of you.

Dr. Tarek Elgawhary is a scholar of Islam and comparative religions having studied at both Princeton University and al-Azhar Seminary. He is the creator of the Making Sense of Islam platform where he discusses issues related to Islam and mindfulness. More can be found at www.makingsenseofislam.com.

Shaykh Dr. Muhammad bin Yahya al-Ninowy is the Founder and Director of Madina Institute, an Islamic seminary in Atlanta, Georgia, with campuses in South Africa, the United Kingdom, Norway, Sudan, and Malaysia. Dr. Muhammad bin Yahya al-Ninowy is considered to be a Muhaddith; a scholar of Hadith sciences. He has authored books in Usul, Creed, Hadith, and Sufi sciences. He has been a pioneer working on grass root levels to bring back Unconditional compassion and love as the central themes of religion and has been the forerunner promoting non-violence among all people and religions worldwide. Dr. Muhammad bin Yahya al-Ninowy also holds a bachelor’s degree in microbiology from the University of Illinois, and a doctor of medicine degree.

Omar Matadar is currently the Director of the Qasid Institute. The word qasid is used to describe a path that is direct and smooth. This is the way we believe the Arabic language should be taught. The Qasid Institute for Arabic has quietly developed a reputation as one of the leading centers in the Middle East for Arabic language learning. A comprehensive curriculum taught over five distinct levels takes a student from the proper pronunciation of letters to a level of mastery.

Mikhaael Mala is arising nashheed star and world-renown reciter and teacher of the Quran. He is currently based in Birmingham, UK.

Sohaib N. Sultan is the first full-time Muslim Life Coordinator and Chaplain at Princeton University. Imam Sultan is a graduate of the Hartford Theological Seminary, and the author of The Koran for Dummies (2004), The Qur’an and Sayings of Prophet Muhammad: Selection Annotated and Explained (2007). He is a public lecturer and writer on Islam, Muslim culture and Muslim-Western relations and occasionally blogs on the Huffington Post Religion section.

Born in London, Sanders began his career in photography in the mid-1960s, where he often recorded the faces of well-known musicians including Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison and The Rolling Stones. In the 1970s, his attention shifted, which led him to the traditional and spiritual universe of Islam. He converted to Islam in 1971. The same year, Sanders was given a unique opportunity to record the warmth of the world's largest worship gathering in Mecca during the Hajj season. These pictures have appeared in major UK and European magazines such as The Sunday Times, The Observer and Paris Match. Sanders travelled around the world to meet and capture the images of saints and sages of Islam which he has later published in a book titled 'Meetings with Mountains'.

Michael Sugich is a native of Santa Barbara, California and studied at UCLA and the California Institute of the Arts. He was initiated into a traditional Sufi order in 1972. Since that time he has studied Sufi doctrine and practice with spiritual masters across the Arab and Islamic world. He lived for 23 years in the precincts of the sacred city of Makkah Al Mukaramah where he kept company with many men of knowledge and illumination. He has written Palaces of India (Pavilion Books), a travel book, and Living in Makkah (Macdonald Publishers), a children's book, and, most recently a feature documentary film on the life of King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, Faisal: Legacy of a King.

Zaid Shakir, a cofounder of Zaytuna College, is a prominent American Muslim scholar. He has taught courses in Arabic, Islamic spirituality, contemporary Muslim thought, Islamic history and politics, and Shafi’i fiqh at the College. He speaks and writes on a wide range of topics, and he travels frequently across the United States to support institution-building projects in the Muslim community. In 2007, he was a signatory of the 2007 letter “A Common Word Between Us and You,” an appeal for peace and cooperation between Christians and Muslims, and in 2016, he presided over the public memorial for Muhammad Ali.

Muna AbuSulayman is an international development expert with over 25 years in cross sectorial work focusing on women empowerment, media, philanthropy, poverty alleviation, and community development. She is Partner with 3S Consulting focusing on improving philanthropy in the Middle East, and working to increase female empowerment and employment in MENA. She is perhaps most known for her television role as co-host of the top-rated MBC show, Kalam Nawaem. The show focused on cultural, social, and gender issues and has a worldwide viewing audience. Muna was the founding Secretary General of the Alwaleed Bin Talal Foundation, where she focused on women’s empowerment, East-West cross-civilizational programs, and strengthening educational institutions in the Middle East.

Mubin Shaikh is a former Muslim supremacist turned undercover operative for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Integrated National Security Enforcement Team (INSET). Shaikh worked multiple CLASSIFIED infiltration operations, online and on the ground. The last investigation became public when the RCMP in the “Toronto 18" terrorism case of 2006, arrested 18 individuals. In total, 11 aspiring violent extremists were convicted after 5 legal hearings over 4 years in which Shaikh was the main Fact Witness. Shaikh has a Master of Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism (MPICT), is an external SME (Subject Matter Expert) to the Command Staff of CENTCOM, the United Nations Security Council and others, and trains police, intelligence and special operations forces on related topics. He was extensively involved with the ISIS social media boom, having infiltrated their networks online. Some of these individuals went on to be targeted by Coalition forces, some investigated by the FBI (and others), as well as those who were convinced to leave the group completely. He also deals with the Foreign Fighter file, including Returnees and rehabilitation at the international level. Shaikh is also co-author of the acclaimed book, Undercover Jihadi and is featured in a permanent exhibit at the new International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C. under, “Preventing Terror.”

Rabia Chaudry is an attorney, advocate, and author of the New York Times bestselling book "Adnan's Story" and Executive Producer of a four-part HBO documentary "The Case Against Adnan Syed." Rabia is also co-producer and co-host of two podcasts, Undisclosed and the new podcast the Hidden Djinn, which just launched shortly after we recorded this interview.

Navid is the Founder and CEO of Alchemiya.com, a video streaming service that showcases the best movies, dramas, docs and lifestyle content about Muslim life, culture, art, history, people, places and so much more. He is an award-winning Producer and Broadcast journalist, with over 25 years of experience in mainstream UK television and radio. During his time at the BBC he worked in both the arts and history departments, and advised senior management on diversity issues. He was responsible for organizing the first ever BBC conference on Muslim audiences and was the development producer for the acclaimed BBC Islam Season, which included the award winning ‘Journey of a Lifetime’ documentary. Other work includes ‘The Sword of the Samurai’ and ‘Ramadan Diaries’. For radio he presented Nusrat was my Elvis, The Black Cube, and A Dutiful Child. He has also worked on a number of key Channel 4 strands including Channel 4 News and Dispatches, and for Independent producers such as Shed Media, SMG, Tiger Aspect, Mentorn, and Chameleon TV. Navid was a Senior Producer on the 2013 Ramadan Season at Channel 4, producing a series of 30 Ramadan reflections and the first ever-Muslim 'Hipster' call to prayer, broadcast on UK television. Navid has served as a judge on the prestigious V&A Jameel Prize for Islamic Art, Sanford St Martins awards for Religious Broadcasting and The Royal Television Society Journalism Awards. He has lectured about the role of the media in the global Muslim economy at the World Halal Forum in Kuala Lumpur, the Global Islamic Economy Summit in Dubai, and advised Turkish Broadcaster TRT on its global content strategy and producer guidelines.

Dr. Walead Mohammed Mosaad is an internationally recognized scholar in Islamic studies and human development. His academic and traditional training has accorded him the opportunity to work with communities worldwide as a teacher and project driver. He is currently the Chair and Scholar-in-Residence of Sabeel Community, a community-oriented service organization focused on cultivating and nurturing Muslim communities worldwide. Additionally, he is the director of Muslim student life at Lehigh University. He has also worked for the Tabah Foundation, where he managed educational projects in Belgium, Denmark, and Kenya. He has completed degrees from Rutgers University, Fath Islamic Seminary in Damascus, Al-Azhar University in Cairo, the University of Liverpool, and a PhD in Arab and Islamic Studies at the University of Exeter in the UK.

Someone reached out to ask if we can consider non-beard wearing men and non-hijab wearing women believers and Muslims. Please listen for the quick, definitive response.

Ahmed Younis is committed to the untested feasibility of what is possible through the process of always becoming. Ahmed was raised between Los Angeles, California and Cairo, Egypt. He is the Host of The Study with Ahmed Younis, a podcast that brings Art, Books, and Ideas to the challenges of our time. Dr. Younis focuses on the duality of personal and societal growth, encouraging a critical assessment of the word and the world. He served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, and Deputy Special Envoy in the Obama Administration responsible for state and non-state sponsored disinformation and propaganda. He holds a JD from Washington & Lee University, VA and a PhD in Critical Pedagogy with an emphasis in leadership studies from Chapman University, CA

Abdul-Rehman Malik is an award winning journalist, educator and cultural organizer. In June 2019 he was appointed Lecturer and Associate Research Scholar at the Yale Divinity School. He also serves at the Program Coordinator at Yale University’s Council on Middle East Studies, and is responsible for developing curricula and partnerships with public schools to promote better cultural, language and religious literacy about the Middle East to educators and students alike. Abdul-Rehman also serves as Director of the Muslim Leadership Lab, an innovative student leadership program being incubated at the Dwight Hall Center of Social Justice at Yale. He remains programs manager for the Radical Middle Way, which offers powerful, faith-inspired guidance and tools to enable change, combat exclusion and violence and promote social justice for all. His work has spanned the UK, United States, Indonesia, Pakistan, Sudan, Mali, Morocco, Singapore, Canada and Malaysia.

Some of my thoughts on how to find a Shaykh. What sort of criteria should you use to take religious knowledge from someone? How do you know if someone is qualified and will not lead you astray? These and many more are the types of questions I seek to answer in this episode.

Muddassar Ahmed is Managing Partner at Unitas Communications Ltd, a British strategic communications consultancy, where he’s led on projects for the United Nations, Amnesty International, the NFL, the Arab League, the U.S. State Department and Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and many other governments, civil society and business organizations. He also founded and, is the President of, the Concordia Forum, an annual retreat for senior Western Muslim leaders. In addition, he is President of the John Adams Society, the UK’s official US State Department International Visitors Leadership Program (IVLP) Association. He serves as a Director of the European Network of (US State Dept.) American Alumni, The IDEAS fund & Faith Forum for London. He is also on advisory boards at IAYP, the U.S. Atlantic Council, and Global Ties U.S. Muddassar also recently joined the Office of Transatlantic Leadership Initiatives at the German Marshal Fund as a non-resident fellow with a focus on advancing inclusive leadership in Europe and North America. Muddassar recently completed a term as an Independent Advisor on communities to the UK Government. He regularly writes and commentates for a variety of international media outlets including, London’s Evening Standard, CNN, the Hill, BBC, the Telegraph, Arab News and Haartez. He has also been named as one of 500 most influential Muslims in the world for three years in row and amongst the 1000 most influential Londoners by the Evening Standard in 2018.

What constitutes halal meat and can we meat that's just "out there?" Take a listen and get the details on this oft asked question.

Allie Khalfe, founder of the IslamicText Institute in Cape Town, is a pioneering author with the ability to translate classical and traditional Arabic texts into the English language in a way that grasps audiences on various levels. Recognized as an assiduous student of sacred knowledge, he spent over a decade at the feet of Shaykh Seraj and Shaykh Ahmad Hendricks, who are Cape Town’s leading scholars and heads of the Azzawia Institute in Walmer Estate. They, in turn, graduated from the Umm Al-Qura University in Mecca specializing in Usūl al-Fiqh, and spent about ten years at the feet of the ocean of knowledge, Al-Sayyid Muhammad bin ‘Alawī al-Mālikī, may Allah be pleased with all of them. These Shaykhs have bestowed their blessings upon Shaykh Allie and given him license (ijāzah) to teach various disciplines of Islamic knowledge.

Mona is an international comedian and Emcee who has performed, emceed, and produced comedy shows, competitions and events in major clubs, theaters and universities around the world since 2010. Mona is also a sought-after speaker for her experience using stand-up comedy as a transformative method for healing trauma & PTSD in various socio-political topics in the United States, Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Mona has a Master’s in International Development and is fluent in English, German and Arabic and performs in these languages; while she now works on her PhD.

This is a special episode to address the current COVID-19 pandemic. I hope that these thoughts and resources will help you all navigate this safely and that you emerge from this crises renewed and better than before.

Khuram Zaman is the CEO of Fifth Tribe, a leading digital agency serving the Washington DC Metropolitan Area based out of the 1776 Startup Co-working Space. In his professional capacity, he has provided digital marketing services to clients as diverse as the Department of Defense, Kaiser Permanente, Oxfam America, Ernst and Young, and The Hult Prize. His writing has been featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur.com, and Business2Community. Our conversation is very eclectic, but revolves on how our faith fuels our work!

"In Shaykh's Clothing" is a service and website to support survivors of spiritual abuse around the world, and to prevent spiritual abuse through education and preventative training in Islamic institutions. Services include coaching for those who have faced abuse, cult-exit and recovery coaching, and policy formation.

Hena Khan is an award winning Pakistani American children’s author. Her middle grade novel Amina’s Voice was named a Best Book of 2017 by the Washington Post, Kirkus Reviews, NPR, and others. She is the author of the Zayd Saleem: Chasing the Dream series: Power Forward, On Point, and Bounce Back. Hena has written several acclaimed picture books including Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns, Night of the Moon, It’s Ramadan Curious George, Crescent Moons and Pointed Minarets and Under My Hijab. Her newest book, More to the Story, is a middle grade novel inspired by Little Women. Hena began writing for children with Scholastic book clubs, publishing books for a number of popular series. She went on to write several choose-your-own format books including adventures to Mars and the Amazon. But, as a young mother, Hena yearned to see books that represented kids like her children, and decided to write them. Today, Hena writes full time, often highlighting aspects of her culture, faith, community, friendship and family, and she draws heavily from own experiences. She enjoys presenting to children, educators, community members and others, and being a mom to two now teenaged boys. Whenever she gets the chance, Hena travels with her family, bakes, and reads books written by her favorite children’s authors.

Umar Lee is a writer and activist from St Louis currently living in the Dallas metro area. He has been published in Politico, The Guardian, The Nation, Quartz, and other publications. Umar is also the host of the St Louis Speaks Podcast and The Unmosqued Khutbah. Books are available on Amazon.

There is probably no more abused word in our contemporary religious discourse than bid'a/innovation. Is there room in Islam for innovation, iteration, nuance, etc. in our expression of faith? Is there room for cultural interpretations of faith practices? I try to answer these questions and more in this episode.

"What does Islam say about music?" is perhaps one of the top 10 questions Muslims ask every day. This episode seeks to lay down some basic ground work, important scholarly references, and ultimately a straightforward answer. Enjoy!

This particular episode was a suggestion from a listener. Diplomacy is a large, large topic and this episode in no way, shape, or form answers all the questions. Rather, it is meant to be a conversation starter. Enjoy!

We all know the common complaint that Islam looks bad and is misrepresented. It doesn't help that it seems often times the worst elements of our community are those speaking on our behalf. If we ever hope for the Islam to make sense to us and to our children, it must be made to look good. Easier said than done, but at least we can lay out some final principles as we conclude this series within the Podcast.

We frequently hear the statement that Islam is valid for all time, place, and circumstance. Yet, the key underlying question associated with that statement is do we actually understand Islam at all? How can we ensure that our understanding is correct? More importantly, how can we pass it on if we don't understand it? In this episode I want to look at some of the keys we need to unlock the code of our intellectual heritage.

This was a hard episode for me to put together. There is so much back-and-forth today about issues of gender relations, how Islam treats women, inherit inequality of the Sharia towards women, etc. While this is not traditionally a first principle jurists speak of, I believe strongly that we need to include to help weed out practices that are not compatible with our belief system. Hopefully this will be just a beginning to a longer conversation.

Muslims talk about charity a lot, but mostly in the context of the community in need of charitable help. As a first principle, however, charity is more than financial assistance, it is a state of being aimed at helping people in need. In this episode I explore this concept hoping that we can all be more charitable and giving of our selves.

While I covered models of coexistence previously on this podcast, here I take several steps back  to consider the concept of coexistence from a principle point of view. If we can understand that we all have more in common than we think, the ability to coexist not only becomes easy, but the only natural option.

The Hajj pilgrimage is the largest communal devotional act Muslims preform.  While it is the trip of a lifetime, the blessings surrounding it are not limited to those on the actual pilgrimage. This episodes highlights the importance of the first ten days of Dhul Hijja and offers advice on how we can maximize the great rewards laying in wait.

This episode is a brief commentary on َQuran 45:23. It explores the power of the lower self and how only by turning to God can we dig ourselves out of the hole we so often find ourselves.

Why are some people passionate about issues that we might not care about? Why are some people willing to fight one another, indeed go to war against one another based on differing ideas? This episode provides a brief sketch on the power of perspective and time in flaming conflict, or quelling it.

In this episode I address the role of Islam in high-politics and low-politics (defined by me in the beginning of the episode). Faith, understood and practiced truthfully should engender a patriotic spirit. Why and how are some of the questions I try bring up and answer.

Eid al-Fitr is the culmination of the massive achievement of Ramadan. In this episode I offer some points on how to really make the most of this special day. Enjoy!

The Night of Power (Laylat al-Qadr) is the peak of Ramadan and a tremendous opportunity for us to not only turn to God with sincere devotion and repentance, but to begin a new chapter in our lives. However, while we are used to hearing about the immense merits of this important night, it's easy to be overwhelmed and not actually know what to do. In this episode I offer a simple, yet effective program to help us make the most of this blessed evening.

The Battle of Badr is the most important and decisive battle from the life of the Prophet (God bless him and give him peace). It occurred shortly after the Prophet migrated to Madina from Mecca and took place during the first Ramadan fasted by the early Muslim community. There has always been a special relationship between Ramadan and conquest throughout Islamic history. However, it is the conquest of the self that we ultimately seek.

Ramadan is the peak of the Islamic calendar. It is the greatest opportunity we have to reset our spiritual system. While we let the body feast throughout the year, Ramadan is the greatest opportunity to let the soul feast. This episode is an overview that provides a simple framework of how to get the most out the month.

We do not live alone. We are constantly interacting, communicating, and dialoguing with others. Yes, the term "interfaith dialogue" frequently comes up in the context of religion, but in this episode I have something much more broad than that in mind.  After all, these are our first principles meant to provide guidance for us in all aspects of our life. Hopefully this brief discussion will provide a framework for constructive communication and dialogue with others.

The eve of the 15th of Sh’aban is one of the most significant and spiritually important times in the Muslim calendar. It is a night that the salaf used to seek out and honor with pious devotion and sincere supplication. What follows is a very simple overview of the importance of this event and recommendations for observing it.

We cannot be who we are or do the things we do except through and by the natural world around us. The Quran and Hadith literature are replete with references to the animated nature of the environment, to the duty we owe the environment, and to the obligation to keep its balance. The environment is one of the meta principles of Islam, and since the natural world around us is in crises, it is ever more important that we learn what it means from our faith point of view.

The boundaries of civilizations and religions are fundamentally porous. It is common for them to speak to one another, to benefit from one another, and to work in tandem for common goals. Islam, as both a religion and civilization, is no exception and has been very open historically to learning and benefiting from others. In this episode I dissect this and also draw some contemporary examples.

In our current context it is common to hear discussions about the compatibility or non compatibility of Islam with certain trends. While there is no doubt that these conversations have always occurred, they seem to happen more today than ever before. In this episode I want us to start thinking about what we already know and believe about Islam, but to articulate it in the language of "paradigm". I think that this is really just the beginning of the discussion, and I hope  to expand on it much more in the future.

Rajab is the 7th Islamic month and marks the countdown for Ramadan. It's also one of the four sacred months in Islam, and the month during which we commemorate the Prophet's Night Journey (Isrā') and Ascension (M'irāj). Lots of takeaways for this important month!